Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31419242›Full record

ArticlePloS one2019

Population density of the spur-thighed tortoise Testudo graeca declines after fire in north-western Africa.

Brahim Chergui, Roberto C Rodríguez-Caro, Eva Graciá, Soumia Fahd, Xavier Santos

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
2citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

2 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Reptile responses to fire across the western Mediterranean Basin.Conservation biology : the journal of the Society for Conservation Biology · 2025
    Article
  2. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Brahim CherguiEquipe de Recherche Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, Faculté des Sciences de Tétouan, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi. BP 2121 El M'Hannech, Tétouan, Morocco.ORCID 0000-0002-4989-8435
Roberto C Rodríguez-CaroDepartamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Alicante, Spain.
Eva GraciáDepartamento de Biología Aplicada, Universidad Miguel Hernandez, Elche, Alicante, Spain.
Soumia FahdEquipe de Recherche Ecologie, Systématique, Conservation de la Biodiversité, Faculté des Sciences de Tétouan, Université Abdelmalek Essaâdi. BP 2121 El M'Hannech, Tétouan, Morocco.
Xavier SantosCIBIO/InBIO (Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos da Universidade do Porto). R. Padre Armando Quintas,Vairão, Portugal.ORCID 0000-0002-4330-4261

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Fire is a key ecological process in several biomes worldwide. Over recent decades, human activities (e.g. rural abandonment, monoculture plantations) and global warming are magnifying the risk of fire, with changes in fire intensity and frequency. Here, we offer the first study that examines the impact of fire on the spur-thighed tortoise Testudo graeca living in a native cork oak forest and pine plantation in north-western Africa. A total of 44 transects (22 burnt and 22 unburnt) were sampled at 8 sites affected by fires of natural cork oak forest and pine plantation with 8 surveys per site in 2015-2017 (264 hours of sampling effort). Tortoise densities were estimated with line-transect distance sampling. The detection probability of tortoises was higher in burnt (0.915) than unburnt (0.474) transects. The density of tortoises was negatively associated with elevation and declined with fire by c. 50% in both forest types. The negative response of T. graeca to fire should be considered in conservation planning of this species in north-western Africa in a future scenario of changes in fire regime.

Indexed as

Conservation of Natural ResourcesFiresForestsTurtlesAfrica, NorthernAfrica, WesternAnimalsEcological Parameter MonitoringPinusPopulation DensityQuercus

Identifiers

PMID31419242
PMCPMC6697351

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.